Bicentennial Campaign to Raise More than $200 Million

Contact: Vice President for University Advancement Leonard Raley, (740) 593-0061

Editors: The Bicentennial Campaign logo is available on the Web at: www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/CAMPAIGN_LOGO.JPG

ATHENS, Ohio (November 11, 2000) -- Ohio University's Bicentennial Campaign seeks to raise more than $200 million by 2004 the university's 200th anniversary in the school's most ambitious fund-raising effort to date. Campaign details were announced to an audience of past and potential donors Saturday, Nov. 11, at a special gala on campus.

Nearly $113 million already has been raised during the campaign's quiet phase. The goal of the quiet phase is to attract leadership gifts, including several multimillion-dollar commitments announced during the past three weeks. They are:

• A gift commitment of at least $20 million the largest single gift in the university's history -- to benefit the College of Business from Texas businessman and alumnus Frank P. Krasovec and his wife, Margaret.
• A donation of $5 million to help fund a state-of-the-art science lecture hall and "smart" classroom facility from Robert Walter of Columbus, chairman and CEO of Cardinal Health Inc., and his wife, Peggy McGreevey Walter, both alumni of the university.
• A $5 million gift commitment to create the Marion Parson Alden Permanent Endowment for University Libraries from Ohio University President Emeritus Vernon Alden.

"We have come to accept that great public universities become that way not solely from state support but from the support that comes from alumni and friends," said President Robert Glidden. "This is the time to capitalize on the distinctive resources that define Ohio University as Ohio's first and finest."

Much of the money raised will be placed in the university's endowment, and projects will be funded with the endowment's investment earnings. Ohio University's endowment has grown from $69.3 million in 1991 to $220 million this academic year, ranking 54th in size among public institutions, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. The endowment got a boost during the university's last funding-raising effort, the Third Century Campaign, which ran from 1988 to 1993 and raised $132 million.

University officials want to increase the endowment to $500 million in the next seven to eight years, said Vice President for University Advancement Leonard Raley.

"A larger endowment will allow us to grant more scholarship aid, recruit and retain more professors, award more graduate research fellowships and provide additional funds for innovative programming," Raley said. "It really is the margin of excellence that is not afforded by tuition and state dollars."

Here are the campaign priorities:

• Endowed chairs and named professorships: $70 million
  Endowed chairs and named professorships allow the university to recruit and retain additional eminent scholars. With only 15 endowed chairs in seven departments, about $56 million would be set aside to establish 28 new endowed chairs at $2 million each to serve at least half of the university's 56 academic departments. Another $14 million would endow one named professorship at $250,000 or more in each department.
• Scholarships and fellowships: $46 million
  More than 100 Cutler Scholarships have been committed to the university, and the goal is to raise $25 million to support up to 100 more. Another $15 million will finance general scholarships, and $6 million will create at least one endowed graduate student fellowship in every department with advanced degree programs.
• Technological advancement: $22 million
  The goal is to raise $11 million to outfit classrooms and laboratories and build on existing infrastructure to expand international collaborative exchange. Another $11 million is sought for Ohio University Libraries technology initiatives.
• Innovative programs: $20 million
  The university needs $5 million to increase student participation in the Global Learning Community, an academic certificate program with an international scope. Another $5 million will strengthen programs at the George V. Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs, and $10 million will expand outreach programs, such as Kids on Campus and College of Osteopathic Medicine community services.
• Capital facilities: $92 million
  Private dollars are sought, in combination with state funds, to build a new student center ($25 million), a new College of Communication facility ($15 million), an engineering research facility ($12 million), a performing arts center ($15 million), a sciences classroom building ($15 million) and upgrade athletics facilities ($10 million).

Co-chairs of the campaign are alumnus and former Ohio University Trustee Charles Emrick and alumnus and Ohio University Foundation Chair James Daley. For more information about the campaign, visit the Web at www.ohiou.edu/campaign/